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Friday, 17 May 2013

Homophobic discrimination is a serious issue in every single country on this planet, no matter how big or small. Some countries are more advanced in GLBTQ rights, while in some countries the penalty for being a GLBTQ person is death. All over the world, GLBTQ people are shunned by society, beat up, tortured, raped, and stripped of human rights in various ways. What makes people believe that they have the right to strip someone of their human rights is beyond us.

The Hop Against Homophobia is an attempt by over 170 m/m authors, reviewers and publishers to stand together and create awareness of homophobia. Each participating blog will feature a message on homophobic discrimination in its various forms. The date, May 17th, was chosen in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia and we're hoping to get people more involved with this day by inviting them to our blogs, where the visitors have a chance to win prizes.

According to a 2011 survey by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, 8 out of 10 US students who identify as LGBT were harassed at school in the past year due to their sexual orientation, 64 percent felt unsafe at school, and 30 percent skipped an entire day of school in the past month because of safety concerns.

In the USA, youth who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual are four times more likely to attempt suicide, and youth who are questioning their sexual orientation are three times more likely to attempt suicide, as compared to their heterosexual counterparts.

41 percent of Americans who identify as transgender have attempted suicide.

According to a recent study across 15 countries, transgender women were nearly 50 times more likely to have HIV, and there were 1,123 reported killings of transgender people in 57 countries between 2008 and 2012